Talk with Riley may affect James' decision

Updated 11:44 pm, Sunday, July 6, 2014

Two people familiar with the situation said Sunday night that LeBron James will meet with Miami Heat president Pat Riley this week before making a decision about where to play next season.

The time and location were still being scheduled, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the Heat nor James announced their plans publicly.

James opted out of his contract with the Heat last month. His agent met with several teams last week, including Cleveland, where he spent his first seven NBA seasons.

Sterling trial to start: With the potentially record-breaking $2 billion sale of the Clippers hanging in the balance, a trial beginning Monday will focus on whether Donald Sterling's estranged wife had the authority under terms of a family trust to unilaterally negotiate the deal.

Shelly Sterling struck a deal to sell the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer after Donald Sterling's racist remarks to a girlfriend were publicized, and the NBA moved to oust him as team owner.

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In order to do so, she had two doctors examine her 80-year-old husband, and they declared him mentally incapacitated and unable to act as an administrator of the trust that owns the Clippers.

The terms of the trust say incapacitation can be determined by two licensed doctors without ties to the family who are specialists in their field. A trustee must cooperate with such exams.

The judge must find that Shelly Sterling acted in accordance with the trust and that the deal still applies — even though the trust has since been revoked by Donald Sterling — for the sale to proceed.

Donald Sterling's attorneys say his wife “blindsided” him, and he submitted to examinations under false pretenses. They allege there was undue influence in the doctors' findings, and the exams and letters regarding his mental capacity were defective and incomplete. They say that if he'd been properly informed, he would have participated at a more convenient time instead of being pulled out of legal meetings.

But Shelly Sterling's attorney, Pierce O'Donnell, said Donald Sterling, who is an attorney, voluntarily went to take scans of his brain and there was no requirement to remind him or his legal team of the trust's conditions.

The trial also will focus on the question of what happens to a deal that hasn't been closed once a trust is revoked. Donald Sterling revoked the trust on June 9 — weeks after Shelly Sterling negotiated the deal with Ballmer.

Donald Sterling's attorneys made a move last week to shift the case to federal court so their allegations of medical privacy violations in the probate case can be heard.